Thursday, October 30, 2014

Still in Key West

Things have been hectic but we are having a great time on our trip. We have been to the Punta Gorda area and then drove down to Key West on Monday.

The weather has been perfect, the music off the hook and friends from all over the country make this a perfect vacation.

Our "Crab Island Mambo Welcome to the Island Party" on Wednesday was a fun time. We had several hundred friends show up to party with us. We will do it again!

This is a short update today. No pictures and nothing about Destin but we will get back to our regularly scheduled program next week. See ya then!!!

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Short and Sweet today

Sunshine Cindy and I are getting ready for our trip to Key West so this will be short today.

We got out Wednesday evening for a stop at Chan’s Craft Bar. The place was not as busy as we have seen it in the past but they still had a decent crowd with many folks sitting on the outside patio. I had three different craft beers. Each one was good. One was a Founder’s IPA, one was a Cigar City brew and the last one was a Sweat Head Big Nose or something like that. I enjoyed each of them even if I can’t remember their names.

Craft Bar

Sunshine Cindy and I also split a burger. Their burgers are fantastic. It’s a half pound of grain fed beef. We asked for it to be cooked “medium” and it came out perfectly cooked. That is unusual for a burger especially one that was as thick as this one was. They have made The Craft Bar a nice relaxing place.

We are close to being ready for the trip. This is always a fun vacation for us. It’s like a giant family reunion when we get to Key West. Once again Crab Island Mambo will be sponsoring a “Welcome to the Island Party” on Wednesday October 29th at Dante’s from 11 am to 3:30 pm. Everyone is welcome to join us for this free Trop Rock party. Here are all the details: http://www.crabislandmambo.com/Crab-Island-Mambo's-Key-West-4th-Annual-Welcome-to-the-Island-party.html

Fun at Dante's for the Welcome to the Island Party

I will try to send out the next couple of blogs with updates on our adventure but you never know how things will go. Have a great weekend. If you can, get over to KC’s Sandbar in downtown Fort Walton Beach on Sunday. Michael Allman, son of legendary rocker Gregg Allman will be playing with his band. Gunner opens at 1 pm and Michael goes on about 4 pm. I think there is a $5 cover charge. We are sorry we will miss this show.

See ya down the road!

Monday, October 20, 2014

Destin in the Fall

Not to sound like a broken record or anything but the weather continues to be just about perfect in Destin. It’s about 80 during the days and 60’s at night. The chamber of commerce loves this weather and so do the locals!

Sunshine Cindy and I had a busy weekend. We started out Thursday night at Chips. We wanted to get out of the house for a while and with Chips being right across the street it is perfect for us. We sat inside where Becky was behind the bar. Stephanie was working the outside bar. Friday night was her last night at Chips as she is moving to Utah where her husband is working. We have known Stephanie since her days at Baby J’s. She will be missed.

Wes and Thomas at the Cantina

We had some food while watching some sports. I had something I never had before…a Boudin Po-Boy. Chips has authentic Cajun food and their Boudin is like what you get in Louisiana. I loved it. The place was pretty busy. They had a special on wings for $.10 each. A lot of folks were there having them. We talked to Tommy and a few others and headed home.

Friday night was special. It was our last “Embrace the Chaos! Trop Rock Music Series at the Cantina” show of the season. We had from Nashville, Wes Loper playing for us. He brought Thomas Jenkins with him to play the fiddle. They put on a fantastic show. We had about 40 people show up and it was a real party. The sunset Friday night over the Bay was perfect. There were even some Parrot Heads from Oklahoma and Mississippi who just happened to walk by stop and party with us. We could not have asked for a better close to our music series.

Group pic from the Cantina

Saturday kept the good times going. Sunshine Cindy and I went to her parents house to take the boat out. Her Dad has it running again so we all went out for a ride. We rode over to Bluewater to have lunch at Schooners. We tied off and went in for lunch. When Sunshine Cindy lived in Bluewater we would go to Schooners all the time but it has been a year or two since we were there. Lindsey worked there when we used to stop and she is now the bar manager. She remembered us and gave us a hug.

Lunch was good and we were able to relax and enjoy the weather. We got back in the boat and cruised around some of the bayous. As we came out of one of the bayous we saw something in the water. We passed right by it and it was a Manatee. They are very rare in our area. We tried to spot it again but we could not but just seeing it once was pretty special. We got the boat back into the boat house and we didn’t even need to be towed! LOL

Dancing to Wes' music

As Sunshine Cindy and I headed home we decided to stop at Hooters for some wings and drinks. Hooters is right around the corner from our house so we would be close to home. College football games were on as we sat at the outside bar. You get a different type of crowd at Hooters. There were some bikers at the bar, a local guy who seemed to have every waitress come up and sit with him for a while and then you also had some families and grandma types. We talked to the chick magnet guy and enjoyed our food. By now it had been a long day so we got in Badass and headed home. We slept well that night.

Sunday was spent working on a multitude of Crab Island Mambo things. We are preparing for our trip to Key West and our “Crab Island Mambo Welcome to the Island Party” on Oct. 29th. (http://www.crabislandmambo.com/Crab-Island-Mambo's-Key-West-4th-Annual-Welcome-to-the-Island-party.html) This is going to be another great party at Dante’s. Everyone is welcome to stop in and join us!

Southern Drawl Band in Key West last year

Sunday evening I was watching the NFL national game on NBC between Denver and San Francisco. At one point Peyton Manning through a touchdown pass. As they were getting ready to head to a commercial and showed Peyton in the background you could hear the song “Rocky Top” playing. Peyton played at Tennessee so that was a logical tie-in. But as I heard the few seconds of the song I thought it sounded like our friends at Southern Drawl Bands’ version. They have a great version of the song that is like an anthem in Tennessee now.

About an hour later Facebook started to explode with comments about the song. It was the Southern Drawl Bands version. Someone had a 10 second recording and you could clearly hear Mike Nash singing and the guys playing. How cool. Move over Hank Jr. and Faith Hill….Southern Drawl Band is coming!!!

Okay, this week we will finish our preparations for our trip down south. We will try to sneak in a trip to Juana’s on Thursday to hear Thom Shepherd perform. We shall see if we can do that.

Have a great week. See ya Thursday!!!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Wes Loper playing in Destin

Picture perfect weather in Destin. Let’s see…The humidity is low. Temps are comfortable. No clouds in the deep blue sky. Light winds….Yep, it is almost perfect weather. And it is supposed to last for the foreseeable future. Reason 8,981 why I love living in Destin.

Destin weather has been perfect

The only stop out and about this week was Tuesday night. On my way home from work traffic was at a standstill on the Island. I turned around and made a stop at Fudpucker’s to ride it out. It turns out a car had flipped on the Island. The driver of the car was the mother of a manager at Fud’s. Turns out she was fine but traffic was a mess for a while. I had a few drinks, watched my traffic app and headed home when it was all clear. You have to love modern technology.

This week I published the October edition of the Crab Island Mambo Mullet Wrapper. This issue has a lot of Key West features and video’s in it. This is in honor of our upcoming trip to Key West for Meeting of the Minds in a few weeks. Read the Mullet Wrapper right here: http://www.crabislandmambo.com/Mullet-Wrapper-October-2014-edition.html

Love the water here

The town is still kind of busy with Fall Breakers here. Destin is getting closer to a year round season with just some peaks and valleys. I like it when the valleys happen!

This Friday we have the last “Embrace the Chaos! Trop Rock Music Series at the Cantina” show of the season. Wes Loper from Nashville, TN will be performing for us at Crab Island Cantina down on the harbor. Show time is 5-9 pm. Make sure you see us for your “Mambo Member” card to get 15% off your entire bill the night of the show. Wes mixes Trop Rock, Country, Blues, and Folk music to create his own style with a funky, beach side feel. You will love his music so please join us.

Wes Loper

That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend. See ya Monday with a recap of the Cantina show.

Monday, October 13, 2014

It was a memorable weekend in Destin

The weekend started off like most others. Thursday night Sunshine Cindy and I decided to head to the harbor for happy hour at Harry T’s. We figured there would not be too many folks there and we could watch some of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s first hockey game of the season. We got to Harry T’s about 6 pm and there were people everywhere. The bar was full and big crowds were walking along Harborwalk. Stephanie the bartender was running around like crazy. Michelle showed up to help her out.

Parrot Heads at Harry T's

It stayed like this all night. No one knew why it was so busy. A group of guys on a bachelor party stopped in. We ended up talking and partying with them for a while. The bar stayed packed all night. It turns out this was “Fall Break” time with schools out in TN, GA and AL. Many folks came to the beach for a few days. That explained why there were so many families with kids out so late. I know all the businesses enjoyed the bump in sales.

Friday night Sunshine Cindy and I were back on the harbor for a Parrot Head meeting. We got down to the harbor a little early and stopped at Margaritaville. Service at the bar was slow but in defense they were probably not expecting the crowds either. Wayne joined us and we all then walked over to Harry T’s. A decent crowd of folks were at the meeting. We had a beautiful sunset over the Destin bridge. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was a great night to be riding around with the top down on Badass.

Beautiful Destin Sunset

A good group of folks headed to the American Legion after the meeting for Karaoke. We might not sing good but we have fun. The night wound down and we headed home. We had a busy day planned for Saturday.

Several months ago we had one of our friends pass away. Wayne was an original Pointe Bum. A group of us would meet each Sunday at The Pointe to drink beer, fish and solve the world’s problems. We would have anywhere from 4 to 30 people show up. We made great friends and enjoyed life along the beach. One of Wayne’s wishes was to have his ashes spread out along the beach. Saturday was the day. His sister from Panama City and several other friends from there came to Destin to join Dennis, Russ and myself to have a party for Wayne. And party we did. We celebrated Wayne’s life and spread his ashes along the beach and in the water. Wayne was with us in spirit. We were glad to be able to send him “home” in style.

Remembering Wayne

Saturday night I needed to eat so Sunshine Cindy and I headed to Chip’s for a bite to eat. Tommy was there. We have not seen Tommy in a few weeks. We were sitting at the bar. A guy and a couple ladies came and sat down in the stools next to Sunshine Cindy. The guy was friendly and immediately started up a conversation. Phil had a strong British accent. He and his wife were in Destin from Palm Beach for a wedding. In a short period of time we found out he is a private pilot and loves going to Key West. We had that in common. He was an interesting person. It’s amazing the folks we meet in Destin.

Sunday I worked on the Crab Island Mullet Wrapper for October. It will be published Wednesday. It is another fine edition if I do say so myself. LOL  I did go to Landshark Pizza in the evening to pick up a pizza for us. The place was packed for football. They are doing a great business. I ran into about a dozen folks I know in there. Everyone congratulated me on the Browns big win over the Steelers. The Browns actually look like this might be a good year for them.

A nice ceremony

This was a fun and memorable weekend. The weather was perfect. We were able to give a proper send off to our friend. We meet several interesting folks. And the Browns won. It does not get much better than that! Don’t forget we are taking reservations for the “21st Annual Phlocking of the Phaithful – 21 and Legal, Let the CHAOS Begin!” Trop Rock party in Put in Bay, Ohio next year. You will not want to miss this 4 day party!!! Here are all the details: http://www.crabislandmambo.com/Crab-Island-Mambo-presents-Phlocking-of-the-Phaithful.html

Have a great week. See ya Thursday!!!

Friday, October 10, 2014

Living and Playing in Destin

Our weather this week has been perfect. Monday morning was strange as it was 75 degrees in Destin as I went to work but about six miles down the road in Fort Walton Beach as I got to my office it was 60 degrees. That was really weird. Since that though the temps have been in the low 80’s during the day and low 70’s at night. Perfect!!!

I have also noticed the traffic in town has been heavier this week than the past few weeks. I think it has to do with the fishing rodeo down on the docks at AJ’s. Each evening I see many cars pulling into the parking lot by the Grande and traffic on Hwy. 98 has been heavy too. The whole idea of the month long fishing tournament was to bring in more tourist and it is sure working.

Destin from the water

On the beach on old Hwy. 98 is a restaurant called Pompano Joe’s. It’s a neat place right on the water. They have good food and a deck area where you can sit outside. For a long time they have had live acoustic music for happy hour. Now I have been told they have moved the musicians down to the beach level off the deck because some old lady who lives across the street complained about the noise. Let me get this right…we are talking about music in the late afternoon and early evening. And it’s acoustic music not some type of head banging rock and roll. So one cranky old lady can dictate how an establishment can legally operate? I will have to get over there to get the real scuttle.

Early this year I was reporting how The Lighthouse restaurant had moved into the old Calhoun’s location in front of the Destin Cinema. Well the movie theater closed a few weeks ago and now The Lighthouse has also closed. I am not surprised as I never saw many cars in the parking lot and it was hard to know when they were open. But this was an old time Destin standby and it’s sad to see it go.

Fishheads on the harbor

Our friend Tom who is co-owner of Fishhead’s beer and wine bar on the harbor was in front of the Destin City Council to argue about changing the city’s Sunday liquor sales law. Unless you sell food, you cannot sell beer or liquor before 1 pm on Sunday. This old archaic law needs to go. We are a world class resort town but the old farts on the city council told Tom they didn’t like the idea. The morality police are out in full force. So they can approve using two million dollars of tax payer money to buy off a company that wanted to open a strip club and now they want to make sure you don’t get a beer before 1 pm on Sunday. Except you can still drink in restaurants though. Maybe one day they will figure out how to get people safely across 98 before someone gets killed. I bet two million dollars would have built a nice skyway over the road.

Getting to Destin from Memphis might be getting easier. Southern Airways is hoping to start flying directly to the Destin airport from Memphis this spring. They fly small planes but they can turn the 7 hour drive into a flight of about an hour and a half. They just started up a Memphis to Knoxville flight. If that goes well then Destin should be next. Good luck to them.

Destin sunset

Sunshine Cindy and I have a busy weekend coming up. The ECPHC meets on Friday at Harry T’s. We always have a good time at Harry T’s. Then on Saturday we will be on the beach at The Pointe. We will have a memorial for our friend Tropical Wayne who passed away several months ago. Wayne was one of the original Pointe Bums. We will have a party in his honor. Come out and join us. Also…I am sure we will be watching a football game or two and of course some hockey games now that the season has started.

Have a great weekend. See ya Monday!!!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Fun weekend in Destin

What an exciting weekend we had in Destin. There was a lot going on all over the place. Sunshine Cindy and I started out Thursday night by going to Landshark Pizza. The Packers were playing the Vikings. A lot of Packer fans always go to Landshark to watch the games with owners Brian and Sue who are originally from Wisconsin. A big crowd packed Landshark as the Packers beat up the Vikings. It was a fun atmosphere with food and drinks flowing.

Friday was the start of the Destin Seafood Festival. This has truly become a community event. The festival stretches all along the boardwalk from the bridge at Crab Island Cantina all the way to the Yacht Club. That’s about one mile of booths, stages for music and activities for the entire family. I heard the crowds on Friday night were wall to wall all night.

 Destin Seafood Festival

Saturday Sunshine Cindy and I went to the festival. We got there early, about 11:30 am but the crowds were already huge. Parking is a problem with every vacate spot turned into a parking lot. We paid to park at the AJ’s overflow lot with the proceeds going to the Destin Fishing Museum. That was a good cause. We walked down to Crab Island Cantina and planned to walk to the other end. It was amazing how many folks were walking around. At the Cantina we could see the traffic was backed up across the Destin bridge as everyone was trying to get into town.

We worked our way down the boardwalk. We were running into friends every step of the way. We made a stop at the Boathouse for some lunch. More friends spotted us and stopped to say hello. Gigi made sure we were taken care of with jello shots. Sunshine Cindy and I love the Boathouse. They are like family. After lunch we walked to the end and we bought a craft item. It was a hand painted sign. The owner was the most laid back person I think I have ever met. He was stretched out in a beach chair the entire time we were there. We talked to him about Key West, Put in Bay and all points in between. If we do a mini mart at Put in Bay for Phlocking, he wants to be involved. We shall see. Here is the link for “Phlocking of the Phaithful" where you can register for our Trop Rock event: http://www.crabislandmambo.com/Crab-Island-Mambo-presents-Phlocking-of-the-Phaithful.html

JB on one of the stages

We made a stop at the Monkey Bar. Sherry is the new owner and we had a chance to talk to her. We have known Sherry for a few years. She should do fine. On the stage by the Monkey Bar JB was playing. Tami, Kim and Charley were there so we talked to them for a while. Then we headed home to rest up for the Southern Drawl Band who was playing at KC’s Sandbar later.

Traffic to get out of town was terrible. Good thing I know the back roads. We got to KC’s about 6 pm for the 9 pm show. We ate and relaxed listening to Chris Jackson playing music. The band pulled up in their new bus (really cool) and friends all got there in time for the show. Mike the owner reserved some tables up front for us which was nice. The only down side was it was COLD. This is an outside venue and the temps got down into the low 50’s. That’s too cold! The show was fantastic. Several drunk characters put on a good show too. We finally left about 12:30 am. It was a long day.

The bands new bus is really neat

Sunday we were back on the harbor and Crab Island Cantina for the second Southern Drawl Band show of the weekend. They started at 4 pm. I was able to talk my way into the parking garage as I knew the festival was ending and spots would be open. We had a great time. The sunset was perfect. A big group of friends made it there for the show. We love listening to this band play. Some tourist guy even paid the band to play three extra songs. So we got an encore.

The fishing rodeo is in full swing now. They have their weigh-in’s behind AJ’s. That just added to the crowds this weekend on the docks. Our friend Matt’s son is on the leader board for his age group. Pretty cool.

Southern Drawl Band at Crab  Island Cantina

On the island was a volleyball tournament. The island boardwalk area was also packed with cars as we went to KC’s. It looked like a summer weekend day there were so many cars there. Finally a kids soccer tournament was going on in Destin at Morgan’s Sports Center. That meant many more cars and folks were everywhere. Thankfully we had perfect weather for everyone.

We will probably lay low for a few days this week. We have a busy weekend coming up. Have a great week and I will see ya on Thursday!

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Busy Weekend in Destin on tap

This week has been the quiet before the storm in Destin. There are multiple events going on along the entire Emerald Coast. Panama City Beach has their biker weekend, Thunder Beach. Pensacola Beach is hosting a songwriters showcase this weekend. And in Destin is the big Seafood Festival. Close to 70,000 people will descend onto the harbor this weekend. It is a fun time as the festival will stretch over a mile along the harbor district.

 Southern Drawl Band at the Cantina

The other big news is our guys from the Southern Drawl Band will be back in town this weekend. Saturday night they will be playing at KC’s Sandbar in Fort Walton Beach. Then on Sunday as the Seafood Festival is winding down they will be playing at Crab Island Cantina starting at 4 pm. Both shows are free and open to the public. You need to come and see these guys before they get too big to play these small venues. They are that good.

Sunshine Cindy and I have been staying in this week. I published the Crab Island Mambo Monthly recap. You can read for yourself about all the good times we had in September right here: http://www.crabislandmambo.com/September-2014-Crab-Island-Mambo-recent-events.html

The Destin Fishing Rodeo kicked off Wednesday. The first day saw a 188 pound tiger shark brought in. It never seems to fail that a shark always draws a lot of attention on the docks. The rodeo runs the entire month of October with weigh-in’s behind AJ’s.

Paul from Southern Drawl Band

We had a week of great fall weather. Day time temps in the low 80’s with lows around 73. But that is going to change this weekend with lows going down into the 50’s. Ugh..I am not ready for cold weather.

That’s it for today. Have a great weekend. I will have a full recap on Monday of all the “Chaos” we get into. See ya then!